Combination air cooler and refrigerator



Jan. 24, 1939. A. ROGERS COMBINATION AIR COOLER AND REFRIGERATOR Filed July 6, 1937 I/v VENTO/F. mm/m /7. 600 555 .8) M5 #770 m Patented Jan. 24, 1939 t COMBINATION AIR COOLER AND REFRIGERATOR Leonard A. Rogers, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor of one-third to F. J. McAweeney and one-third to T. C. Odegaard, both of Minneapolis, Minn.

Application July 6, 1937, Serial No. 151,917

3 Claims. (01. 62-133) serving to cool beverages and foodstuffs in the The air cooling means shown in the drawing 5 manner of an ordinary refrigerator. comprises a box-like receptacle l6 supported in It is a general object of my invention to provide spaced relation to the side and back walls of the a highly efficient cooler which can be used either outer casing by means of brackets II. The lower as an air cooler or as a refrigerator, or which can partof the receptacle l6 has a substantially open be adjusted so that one of the functions can be bottom indicated at IS, with the central portion of 10 eliminated while maintaining the full efiiciency of the bottom of the receptacle closed by a disc-like the other. The device is manufactured as a unielement is which is preferably elevated at its tary structure and in altering the function of the center. The disc-like element l8 may be held in device it is only necessary to make a simple adposition by a suitable screen 20 which extends justment and the general arrangement of the substantially throughout the bottom of the recepvarious parts remains the same. When the detacle Hi. This cooling receptacle is adapted to vice is used both as a refrigerator and an air d a uitab e co means Sueh hleek 0f cooler, I have provided means for introducing 1 refrigerating coils y be Substituted for air into the refrigerator compartment and then the ice itself. In any event. there is a d pp expelling this still cool air out of the casing of of moisture either due to the melting o the ice the complete device into the room in which it is when a block of ice is used, 01' t0 pp from located so that even after the cooled air has the refrigerating coils if y are p y for served to keep food or other articles cooled, it is cooling. Therefore there is provided a drip-pan used in the room to keep the room temperature 2| which lies below the cooling receptacle and at a lower point. Y has downwardly and inwardly slanting walls, as

These and other objects and advantages of Shown, which terminate p mately below the 'the invention will more fully appear from the ed e of t e central plate l9 in e cooling rec pfollowing description made in connection with tacle. From that point the drip-pan slopes the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference sharply up y and inwardly ht y 0 that characters refer to the same or similar parts y dr p from t cooling receptacle w throughout the various views, and in which:-- he caught in the P-P and cannot p Fig. l is a transverse vertical section looking dewn into the fan P p chamber in the bottom f toward the front of the machine and is taken on the casing. A Suitable drain P p 22 permits the line l| of Fig. 2; water to flow from the drip pan 2| into a recep- Fig. 2 is a. vertical section taken on the line tacle 23 which is provided with an exterior drain 22 of Fig. 1; cock 24 which extends outside of the casing wall. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of one of the air. The upper portion of the casing contains a flow control shutters, and refrigerating chamber 25 which is spaced in- Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of wardly from the rear and side walls of the casing Fig. 3. 5 and is secured by brackets 26 which are similar In the embodiment shown in the drawing there to the b ac ets l1 u p r t 00011118 e epis shown a main casing 5 which is preferably tacle. The walls of the refrigerating chamber 25 made of sheet metal and is provided with an insuextend upward y t0 the p of the a e 5 lating sheathing 6 covered by a suitable outer and the side walls of said refrigerat be shell I. The method of attaching the insulation are p ovided w louvers pe gs 21 which and the outer shell is unimportant. The casing are po ti P rably a little distance from the has a screened opening 8 in the bottom thereof. p 0f Said Side Walls- The real well the and the upper portion of each side of the casing chamber 25 is also provided With Openings 8, b t isprovided with a row of louvers or outlet open- I prefer that this row of openings be placed above ings 9. Suitably secured across the lower part the openings 21 in the side walls of the chamber. of the casing is a partition plate In having a Extending from the side walls of the casing 5 central aperture H. A U-shaped supporting into the side walls of the refrigerating chamber frame l2 has mounted thereon a suitable electric 5 above the o s o Openings 27 e p ured motor l3, upon whose shaft extension is secured plates "r slidebly melmted beneath Said a fan l4. The fan is positioned within or axial plates 28 are air flow control shutters 30. It will This invention relates to air cooling devices, and more particularly to devices which have the combined function of acting as air coolers for reducing the temperature of a room or building and also to the opening II in the partition plate l0. A

suitable door 15 is provided in the front wall of the casing to give access to the motor-driven fan compartment.

be noted in Fig. 4 that these shuttefs'are provided with openings 3| in their horizontal portions which are in staggered relation to the openings 32 in the vertical portions of said 5 shutters. Operating handles 33 extend outwardly from said shutters through slots provided in the walls of the casing 5 so that the shutters can be conveniently operated. The openings 21 in the side walls of the refrigerating chamber 25 are placed in staggered relationship to the openings in the plates 29 so that movement of the shutters 30 will alternately open and close either the inlet passage to the refrigerating chamber 25 and the passage through the shutters and the 5 plates 29 and thence outwardly through the openings in the upper side walls of the outer casing 5. Thus it follows that when the openings in the plates 29 are closed by the shutters, the openings 21 are unobstructed by the shutters and air will flow through the refrigerating chamber 25, cooling the contentslthereof and will then pass out through the casing openings 9 in the front wall of said casing. When the shutters are shifted to their other position, no air flows into the cham- 5 ber 25, but passes through the openings in the plates and thence directly outwardly through the casing wall into the atmosphere of the room a in which the device is located. At all times, however, there is a flow of air upwardly in back of the refrigerating chamber 25 between said chamber and the wall of the outer casing 5, thence through the openings 28 in the upper portion of the rear wall of said refrigerating chamber and through said chamber to the front wall of the 5 casing where it leaves the casing through the front wall casing outlets 34.

In addition to the door I5 which gives access to the motor and fan chamber at the bottom of the casing, there is a door which forms the front wall of the cooling receptacle it so that ice may be put into said receptacle or it may be reached for other purposes if a refrigerating coil is used and an upper door 35 opens into the re frigerating chamber 25. It is understood, of

course, that the insulating layer 6 and its outer metallic cover I are suitably mounted over said doors to prevent the ingress of room air.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the device which comprises a single compact unit can be used for cooling the air outside of the casing in a room or similar enclosure, and also for cooling articles deposited in the refrigerating chamber 25. Regardless of the position of the shutters 20, there is always a flow of cool air up in back of the refrigerating chamber 25 through the chamber and out of the front casing outlet 24. When the shutters are manipulated to admit additional cold air through the openings Tl into the refrigerating chamber 25, this air passes through the chamber and exhausts into the outer atmosphere through the openings in the side walls of the casing 5 to cool the air in the room. Thirdly, when the shutters are shifted so that no air enters the refrigerating cham- 5 ber through the openings 21, and the majority of the cooled air is directed out of the casing through the casing side wall outlets 9. Therefore it will be seen that regardless of whether the air is used in the refrigerating compartment 7 25 it is always directed out of the easing into the room in which the device is placedto lower the room temperature, and the forced flow induced bythe motor I! and fan I 4 produces a fairly rapid recirculation and recooling of the air in the room so that the room temperature can be maintained considerably lower than normal and at the same time the refrigerating compartment can be kept cool due to'the influx of the cool air and the insulating qualities of the sheathing 6.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:-

1. In a combined air cooler and'refrigerator, an outer casing, air cooling means within said casing, means for directing a stream of air into effective cooling proximity to said cooling means, a refrigerating storage chamber spaced in wardly from the side and rear walls of said casing and having inlets and outlets for cooled air, said casing having air' outlets adjacent said refrigerating chamber, shutter means for directing cooled air through said refrigerating chamber and out of the outlets in said casing, said shutter means being movable'to close the inlets in said refrigerating chamber and direct air past said chamber to the outlets in said casing.

2. In a combined air cooler and refrigerator,

an outer casing having a lower air inlet and upper air outlets, air cooling means within said casing, means for directing a stream of air into effective cooling proximity to said cooling means, a refrigerating storage chamber within said casing and having air inlets and air outlets, said air inlets being positioned slightly below the outlets in said casing, apertured plates extending from the side walls of said casing inwardly to the side walls of said refrigerating chamber, the apertures in said plates being in staggered relation to the air inlets in the walls of said refrigerating chamber, and shutter elements having sets of apertures of substantially the same size as the apertures in said refrigerating chamber and said plates, and the sets of apertures in said shutter elements being in staggered relationship to each other, whereby the air inlet openings in said refrigerating chamber walls can be closed by said shutter element and the apertures-in said plates maintained open while said refrigerating chamber apertures are closed, and means extending from said shutters through the side walls of said casing and providing handles for slidably operating said shutters.

3. In a combined air cooler and refrigerator, a casing, air cooling means within said casing comprising a box-like receptacle having a closed central bottom portion and an open portion therearound, said central bottom portion being slightly elevated at its center and slanting downwardly toward its edges, a power operated fan whose axis is vertically disposed and positioned beneath the closed central portion of said receptacle, and a moisture receiving pan beneath said receptacle, said pan having an open centralportion beneath the closed central portion of said receptacle, the open portion of said moisture receiving pan being of less width than that of the closed bottom portion of said receptacle, whereby moisture dripping from said receptacle will be received by said moisture receiving pan and retained against falling upon said power driven fan.

- LEONARD A. ROGERS. 

